Another Captive Dies

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"Whitewings" a female Pacific white sided dolphin living at the Vancouver Aquarium is dead. For many years she lived with Bjossa, the orca that was moved to Sea world and died last year (see Bjossa dies).

whitewings [ 34.84 Kb ]
Whitewings at Vancouver Aquarium, 1999
© Dave Edwards/CAPS

Whitewings, aged 36, had according to the aquarium undergone a routine procedure to remove foreign objects from her stomach. As the procedure finished Whitewings stopped breathing and went in to cardiac arrest.

The VA veterinarian Dr David Huff was quoted in one newspaper saying "we had an employee with a long skinny arm reach down her throat into her stomach and remove the stuff." The "stuff" referred to apparently included pinecones and stones.

She is survived by her companion Spin, who was brought in last April to replace the killer whale Bjossa. Spin came from a Japanese dolphinarium in July 2001. The aquarium claimed they needed another dolphin to keep Whitewings company.

The Coalition For No Whales In Captivity notes that:

"Six months after the Japanese dolphin's arrival, Whitewings is now dead and we can be sure that the aquarium will once again use the 'companionship' argument in their attempt to justify bringing more captive dolphins to Vancouver. We urge the park board to stop the aquarium's plan to bring more dolphins to die in Stanley Park."

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